Postgame Quotes: Grambling (March 9)

2021 Mississippi State Baseball
Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State vs. Grambling
March 9, 2021

Head Coach Chris Lemonis

Q: How have the last few weeks been getting Will Bednar ready for his first start?
CL: Well, we had a six-day period where he wasn't throwing. Then, we had to get him some bullpens, and now we're starting to try to build some volume. One inning to two innings. Hopefully the next time he goes out, he gets a couple more innings and we'll go from there.

Q: What has Tanner Allen been doing so well at the plate and what does that do for this offense?
CL: He's as pure a hitter as there is in the country. You're seeing a guy get good pitches to hit and laying into some balls. He's had some tough luck over the last two weeks. He's hit three or four missiles right at people. I like where he's at. The first weekend, he punched out a handful of times, which wasn't like him. He fixed a couple things and he's been really good since then.

Q: How long would it take for Will Bednar to become a weekend starter and what will his production look like the next few weeks?
CL: It's a little premature. We have to go one more step with him before we begin thinking about starting [him on the weekends]. He'll probably be available sometime this weekend. Hopefully we'll get him out there again. Then we'll start looking at weekend stuff after that. We haven't gotten to that point yet. Obviously, we have three starters, so he has to beat somebody out as he shows. Maybe it's a midweek start or something like that. He'll be back in there.

Q: Do you see this lineup staying where it is at defensively after the last two games?
CL: We're just going through a couple days seeing it. We had some defensive struggles and Lane [Forsythe] is a very good shortstop. We have other really good shortstops, too. [Landon Jordan] has also played well at third. I don't want to say it's a good problem to have because it's not. It's not a good problem because you have good players sitting next to you. I'm trying to figure out a way to get them all in. We've played really well the last two games with that mix.

Q: What does it do for the locker room to get a bunch of different guys into the lineup like you have the past few games?
CL: It's huge. From our top to bottom, they all work hard and they're all really good players. There's not a huge gap there, especially pitching staff wise. Getting guys opportunities to stay sharp, get out there, and get their work in is huge. Tonight was a really big night getting eight [pitchers] out there. All eight came out and they were really crisp. We didn't work ourselves into a jam or anything all night. Really the only jam we had was in the first inning when we gave up the double, then we threw the guy out. After that, we were as clean as you could be on the mound.

Q: Do you already have a pitching plan for each game or is it more of a feel thing?
CL: There's a script, but it's not written in stone. There's a script that we'd like to go with, but sometimes you never know. Tonight, the script went just like we wanted it to go. We got out there, got a lead, and got to run some guys out there. We even got to run Parker Stinnett out, who was a new arm today. You don't want to put him in a jam his first outing. [You want to] let him get out there and we were able to do that. I thought he looked great. But there is a script on a lot of those nights. What it does, with today's script, lets us have everybody available for tomorrow's game too. Most of the guys who threw today were one inning guys, then you have a lot of our normal bullpen guys sitting over there waiting for tomorrow.

Q: Where is Kellum Clark in the pecking order and how has he progressed?
CL: He's progressed a lot. He has a medical issue right now that we're dealing with. That's why you haven't seen him in the last week or so. He's working on it and should be back soon and ready to go from there. He has a chance to be a superstar type of player. He's a hard worker and he had a good fall and spring for us. He's just been out for about a week. He should be back with us pretty soon.

Q: We've seen Brandon Pimentel play first these last couple of games and look pretty good, is that a natural position for him?
CL: When we recruited him, he was a first baseman, then we put him in left field because we had [Josh] Hatcher. He learned to play left field, but first base is his natural position. He's able to do both. You'll see him taking in and out, he'll take it in left then run to take it at first. He plays both pretty easy. With the mix that we had last year, he was a better fit for us in left. Last year, when we moved him there, he took to it pretty easy for a big guy.

Q: You mentioned how if Will Bednar were to be a weekend starter, there would be a couple really good guys that he would have to beat out. How much of a good problem is it that you have all those guys to compete for that spot?
CL: It's always a good problem to have the depth and really good arms. COVID kind of made us have a little bit more than we thought we were going to have so that's made it a tricky world right now. I'm glad they are on our team and we have a lot of really good pitchers. On a night like tonight or Sunday, you see us run out so many talented guys. A lot of them are young, so they're going to be with us for a while. Have some patience, which I know is hard when you're 18 to have patience. These guys are going to be a big part of our future too, so that's what's exciting.

Q: Are you happy to see Will Bednar where he's at right now and do you think he is progressing on a pretty good schedule?
CL: Yeah, he was great tonight. I know everybody loves the velocity and so do our guys. He threw some really good sliders and I think he was really good in the pen with his slider too. Seeing him have his breaking ball come in is a big piece when coming back from being off for a while. That's the piece that were probably most excited with. He's always been a velo guy, so as long as he's healthy, he's probably going to throw hard while he's out there. He reached back and threw a couple in the mid-90s tonight.

Q: How much has Tanner Allen progressed as a defender and what has this season been like with him?
CL: It's been a big progression. I think you're seeing a guy who has been able to play out there for a year now and see him get jumps and make plays. I thought he dove right in front of Rowdey Jordan in centerfield. I don't know what you guys [media] saw up there [in the press box]. He's starting to play right field and, I guess, a little bit of center. They have it good because when he dove for that ball, I think he turned and said something smart-aleck to Rowdey. He's gotten a lot better, he's still got some work to do, but he has gotten a lot better. What people don't realize is how athletic he is. He's kind of wasting his athleticism at first base because he runs like a center fielder. I think that's the exciting thing about him out there.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Quotes: Grambling (March 9)

Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Will Bednar

Kellum Clark

Landon Jordan

Rowdey Jordan

Brandon Pimentel

Parker Stinnett

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